William and Kate work the tills at Ikea during surprise Belfast visit to spotlight youth homelessness scheme

From the Newshound archive · first published 10 October 2026 · last updated 11 October 2026.

The Prince and Princess of Wales took to the checkout tills at an Ikea store in Belfast during a packed visit to Northern Ireland focused on the Homewards initiative, which aims to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated. The couple had earlier toured The Commons, a repurposed church on the Ormeau Road in south Belfast, meeting employers and young people placed in jobs through Neon, a pilot programme that has so far found work for 21 vulnerable young people across seven employers. William delighted crowds outside by joining a FaceTime call with a well-wisher's absent mother, telling her: 'We're missing you Angela, it's not the same without you here.'

Neon, the Belfast-piloted scheme at the heart of the visit, has placed 21 young people with seven employers since launching in 2025.

Hundreds waited in the rain on the Ormeau Road to meet the royals, with a heavy PSNI security presence closing part of the street.